A Saudi charity that allegedly funded terror activities cannot be sued for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a federal judge has ruled. Southern District of New York Judge Richard Conway Casey found that the Saudi High Commission was shielded from suit under the act because it presented a prima facie case that it is a foreign sovereign.
Because the Saudi High Commission "was formed by order of the Kingdom's governing body, it provides the Kingdom's aid to Bosnia, it is governed by a Saudi official and its employees are civil servants, it is an organ of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Casey wrote in three of the several cases connected to the Sept. 11 attacks that have been consolidated before him by the Panel on Multi-District Litigation under 03 MDL 1570. The court also found that the Saudi High Commission has not waived its sovereign immunity.
Casey also made a similar finding on claims brought by representatives, survivors and insurance carriers of the families of Sept. 11 victims against the commission's president, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and the Saudi Interior Minister, Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. Both were accused of providing material support to al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations.
Casey's rulings were among several made on jurisdictional issues in three cases, Ashton v. al-Qaida Islamic Army, 02 civ. 6977, Federal Insurance v. al-Qaida, 03 Civ. 6978 and Burnett v. Al Baraka Inv. & Dev. Co., 03 Civ. 9849.
The Saudi High Commission, formed in 1993, allegedly contributed $600 million in aid to Bosnian Muslims impoverished by the civil war in the former Yugoslavia.
But plaintiffs charged that the commission did not actually provide support for needy Bosnian Muslims.
Instead, they claimed, the commission diverted funds to support terrorist activities. One example they cited was $41 million that the commission was unable to account for. Moreover, they charged that al-Qaida fighters entered Bosnia-Herzegovina disguised as commission relief workers.
Following the Sept. 11 attacks, they allege, a raid by U.S. forces on the Sarajevo branch of the commission found computer hard drives with photographs of the World Trade Center before and after its destruction as well as photos of the destruction of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. Also found, they said, were files on pesticides and crop dusters and the locations of government buildings in Washington D.C.
The Saudi High Commission, the plaintiffs charged, "has long acted as a fully integrated component of al-Qaida's logistical and financial support infrastructure" and the Sept. 11 attacks were a "direct, intended and foreseeable product of [its] participation in al-Qaida's jihadist campaign."
PROBLEM FOR PLAINTIFFS
One problem for the Federal Insurance plaintiffs, Casey said, was that their complaint alleged that the Saudi High Commission is an "agency, instrumentality and organ" of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
"They now back away from that allegation and join other Plaintiffs in disputing SHC's status," he said.
The plaintiffs argued that, even if the commission and the two princes could properly assert immunity, that immunity is overcome by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's exception for torts, which lifts immunity "for personal injury or death, or damage to or loss of property, occurring in the United States and caused by the tortuous act or omission of that foreign state or any official ... of that foreign state while acting in the scope of his office," 28 U.S.C. §1605(a)(5).
Here, Casey said, the commission and the princes were not accused of being the actual perpetrators of the attacks, but of conspiring or aiding and abetting.
"Even if Plaintiffs alleged that SHC was tortuously liable for the attacks of Sept. 11, such allegations could not overcome the discretionary function exception," which is designed to prevent "judicial second-guessing" through tort actions of "decisions grounded in social, economic and political policy," Casey said.
"SHC offers undisputed evidence that all decisions regarding the distribution of humanitarian relief funds were within the sole discretion of its Chairman Prince Salman and the advisors he selected," Casey said. "Further, SHC was guided by the Kingdom's policies regarding Bosnia-Herzegovina in making its funding determinations."
Accordingly, he said, the commission's "alleged misuse of funds and/or inadequate record-keeping, even if it resulted in the funds going to terrorists -- was the result of a discretionary function and cannot be the basis for overcoming SHC's immunity."
The judge went on to find that the three complaints must be dismissed against the princes because of a lack of personal jurisdiction.
DEFENDANTS REMAIN
But some other defendants were unable to have the lawsuit dismissed, as the judge found that additional discovery would help him assess whether the Rabita Trust, which has been designated a "global terrorist entity" and had its assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department, can be sued here because its activities were directed against the United States.
And the judge refused to dismiss claims made in the three cases against the International Islamic Relief Organization, which operated in Falls Church, Va.
He found that the plaintiffs had made a prima facie case that the organization, which allegedly supported an al-Qaida guest house and had been involved in several al Qaeda attacks, "purposefully directed its activities at the United States."
James Kreindler, Andrew Maloney and Justin Green of Kreindler & Kreindler represent the Ashton plaintiffs. Eliot Feldman of Cozen O'Connor in Philadelphia represents the Federal Insurance plaintiffs. Ronald Motley of South Carolina's Motley Rice represents the Burnett plaintiffs.
Lawrence Robbins of Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner in Washington, D.C., represents the Saudi High Commission. William Jeffress Jr. of Baker Botts represents Prince Salman. James Cole of Brian Cave represents Prince Naif.
Saudi Charity Dropped From Suit Over Sept. 11 Attacks. From:http://www.law.com
NOTES & COMMENTS: “Lawrence Robbins of Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner in Washington, D.C., represents the Saudi High Commission. William Jeffress Jr. of Baker Botts represents Prince Salman. James Cole of Brian Cave represents Prince Naif.”? Very interesting!
Bryan Cave "has achieved another victory for the State of Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” in compensation from the “U.N. Compensation Commission” from damages caused by Saddam's regime in the first Gulf War. This UN “Compensation Commission” was part of that oil for food program.According to their website,Bryan Cave has “maintained lawyers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 1980 under the sponsorship of and in affiliation with Saudi Arabian counsel."
Lawrence Robbins was a defender of Bush's present Supreme Court nominee back in June 2001. Left Builds Case Against Bush Judges: "'John Roberts is possibly the foremost appellate lawyer of his generation,' concludes Lawrence Robbins, a former lawyer in the solicitor general's office and now a partner in Washington, D.C.'s Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner.” Robbins accused those who opposed Roberts of “playing politics.”
And then there's Baker Botts, the law firm of James Baker III, who is President Bush's "personal envoy," and a "special government employee." Baker Botts was hired to defend "the Saudi defense minister, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and his brother, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the governor of Riyadh." And investors and partners of the Carlyle Group include the Bushes, Baker,the Saudi Binladen Group, Prince Sultan,and his son Prince Bandar, who was the Saudi ambassador to the United States for more than two decades. "On 11 September, while Al-Qaeda's planes slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Carlyle Group hosted a conference at a Washington hotel. Among the guests of honour was a valued investor: Shafig bin Laden, brother to Osama.”
"Here, Casey said, the commission and the princes were not accused of being the actual perpetrators of the attacks, but of conspiring or aiding and abetting"? Well, the attorneys for these defendants didn't base their case on a denial that their clients were donating to these Al Qaeda charities. They claimed that their clients were "immune" from these laws. This amounts to a defacto admission that if someone else did this, that it may be illegal, but that those acting as agents of a government are exempted from the laws. Burnett v. Al Baraka is the only 9-11 case that I have really followed, so I don't know about the others, where this ruling may apply. In Burnett v. Al Baraka, Prince Sultan's attorneys from Baker Botts "openly acknowledge[d] in their brief that Sultan has for the past 16 years approved regular payments of about $266,000 a year to the International Islamic Relief Organization." It is most interesting to note that the IIRO was not dropped from the list of defendants! Wa’el Hamza Jalaidan was not dropped either, and he was involved with exactly these same charities, which Prince Sultan, Prince Naif, and Prince Salman were involved with. This is from documents in Burnett v. al Baraka Originally from: http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/burnettba112202acmp.pdf
172. Al-Haramain took part in a committee of charitable organizations that formed the Saudi Joint Relief Committee (or “SJRC”). Along with al-Haramain, the SJRC is comprised of the IIRO [International Islamic Relief Organization], WAMY [World Assembly of Muslim Youth], the Saudi Red Crescent, and the Muslim World League, among others. The SJRC has been connected to Osama bin Laden and two of his top operatives, Wa’el Hamza Jalaidan and Adel Muhammad Sadiq bin Kazem. The United States Treasury Department has branded Jalaidan a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity [SDGT], stating that Jalaidan is “an associate of Usama bin Laden and a support of al-Qa’ida terror.” Al-Haramain has been able to continue its cooperation with al Qaeda for years in large part due to its ostensible appearance as a humanitarian organization. 173. In the United States, al-Haramain has three business entities in Ashland, Oregon: al-Haramain Foundation, al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, and al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. All three of these separately filed businesses are at the same address and under the same management. These three businesses are one and the same as al Haramain’s headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The President and Vice-President of the United States branch, Aqeel al-Aqeel and Mansour al-Kadi, are the Secretary General and Deputy General, respectively, of the Riyadh office. The al-Haramain branch in Ashland, Oregon, is specifically linked to al Qaeda operations........
359. Despite that responsibility and knowledge, Prince Sultan personally funded several Islamic charities over the years that sponsor, aid, abet or materially support Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda: the International Islamic Relief Organization(and its financial fund Sanabel el-Khair), al-Haramain, Muslim World League, and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth. All of these charities are and/or were involved in the financing of international terrorism. The total of Prince Sultan’s donations to these entities since 1994 amounts to at least $6,000,000, according to official and public reports.
[p. 319] 382. Prince Naif is Saudi Minister of Interior and heads the Saudi Committee for relief to Afghans, which supervises the activities of Defendant al-Haramain Foundation whose sponsorship of terrorism is detailed supra. The Minister of Interior, by function, controls the activities of Islamic Charities and is empowered to verify their legality and conduct. At a minimum, Prince Naif has breached his duties of care with respect to this responsibility.
[p. 324] 401. In 1999, Prince Salman [bin Abdul Aziz] made a donation of $400,000 during a fund-raising event organized for Bosnia Herzegovina and Chechnya by Defendants International Islamic Relief Organization, World Assembly of Muslim Youths, and Al-Haramain Foundation......"
Yeah, Al Haramain conveniently had a branch in Ashland, Oregon. Both the Ashland branch and the parent Al Haramain organization in Saudi Arabia were collecting for the KOSOVO RELIEF FUND, with "reports" from Al Haramain in Albania dated April 1999. How about that! This was during the Kosovo war, when the CIA's KLA really needed some "charity." In Albania, these Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) training camps were "run by Osama bin Laden, and various other foreign mujahedeen" and also by the "CIA and British intelligence...while the CIA seems to have provided monetary support." Also note that the Rabita Trust was not dropped from the case.
"Jeddah-based Saudi businessman Wael Hamza Jalaidan is the Secretary-General of Rabita Trust. Jalaidan is reported to be a founding member of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terrorist network and is also considered to be its chief of logistics and had fought along with bin Laden against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. He was also temporarily head of the Saudi Red Crescent Society and the Muslim World League during his stay in Afghanistan..…Jalaidan was one of the three persons during that period who represented Arabs assigned to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The other two were Abdullah Azzam and Osama Bin Laden.Jalaidan is considered to be an expert in arms transportation and distribution. Jalaidan left Afghanistan at the end of 1992 and thereafter settled in Saudi Arabia and is reported to have engaged in ‘commercial activities’. He then joined the ‘aid operations’ to Bosnia, where he supervised temporarily the Saudi Aid Committee, the largest aid organization then in Bosnia. He also assumed the office of the supervisor of the Muslim World League endowments. Jalaidan is also reported to have lived in Arizona, USA, in the early 1980s and headed an Islamic centre there before joining bin Laden in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan President Pervez Musharraf was one of the patrons of Rabita Trust. Media reports quoting US sources have indicated that the US administration had warned the Pakistani President of the impending order against the Rabita Trust and encouraged him to disassociate himself from the trust........ The members of the trust included Pakistan’s ministers of finance and interior, Saudi Prince Talal ibn Abdul Aziz, secretary-generals of the Muslim World League and the International Islamic Relief Organization and President of the Council of Saudi Chamber of Commerce.”
During the CIA's Jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, to the CIA, Abdullah Azzam "was considered a prime asset because of his close connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, Saudi intelligence, and the Muslim World League." This network obviously didn't dry up when Azzam was assassinated in 1989. Bin Laden & Jalaidan expanded this Al Qaeda system into the Balkans. Jalaidan did serve the Bin Laden network in Arizona. This mosque in Tucson, the Islamic Center "provided money, support and, at times, fighters to the forces resisting the Soviet occupation." In 1983 and 1984, this "mosque's president, according to state corporation records, was Wael Hamza Jelaidan, a Saudi national who was also president of the Muslim Students Association and a graduate student at the School of Agriculture until March 20, 1985, when he withdrew."